T humbs up humbs down

Thumbs up: Righting a wrong

The province has increased the wages of continuing care assistants.

There are 6,700 publicly funded CCA positions in Nova Scotia. Most of these positions are in nursing homes where CCAs look after the needs of our loved ones. And yet for so long their salaries didn't reflect this important, and stressful, work.

More CCAs are needed. The sector has been saying this for a long time. But because of low wages it's been difficult to recruit. Staff shortages are often the norm. And because of that, many CCAs have also left the profession. Not because they don't care for their patients, but because they couldn't keep up the care for themselves.

The provincial government says it is committed to hiring 1,400 additional CCAs. Here's hoping the higher wages help with that.

But just as important, it's good to see those in the field getting the recognition they deserve.

Thumbs up: Ticket sales

Bay Ferries is selling tickets for the 2022 CAT sailing season. Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing ahead.

The ferry service has not operated for three years. In 2020 and 2021, COVID forced the cancellation of the service due to the closed Canada-US border. In 2019 the season didn't happen due to construction and renovations at the Bar Harbor terminal.

The tourism sector has taken a major hit due to the pandemic. Many will be hoping that as it becomes safer to travel, that there will be pent-up demand to travel.

The more ways to get visitors to our province, and this region, the better.

Thumbs down: Scammers

The RCMP is again warning the public of scams.

Some recent examples include a woman getting a call from someone claiming to be a bank employee. The caller stated the woman's credit card had been breached. She was asked to help the investigation by purchasing Joker Mastercards from different retailers and cashiers, and to provide the information from the cards purchased. The fraudster obtained over $8,000.

Another woman received a call from someone claiming to be from Publisher's Clearing House. The caller said the woman had won a prize but needed to pay taxes to claim it. The caller instructed her to mail Visa gift cards to an address outside of Nova Scotia. The fraudster obtained $1,500.

When fraud occurs, blame is often placed on the victim – how could they be so gullible? So trusting? So foolish?

But let's remember to point blame where it rightly belongs – at fraudsters and scammers who take advantage of others. They can be very persistent and convincing.

The RCMP give this advice to protect yourself:

Do not send money, gift cards, Bitcoin or anything else of value to someone you've never met in person.

If you have a feeling that something is not right, trust your gut and stop communicating with that person.

Be careful, folks.